TEXAS, USA — With the current COVID-19 surge and kids heading back to school soon, parents want to know how to keep their kids safe.
Dr. Stan Spinner, the vice president and chief medical officer at Texas Children's Pediatrics and Urgent Care, said if your kids are 12 and older, you should get them vaccinated now so that they are protected by the time school starts.
Dr. Spinner said all kids should be wearing masks to school, even if they are vaccinated. He said this is especially important since masks are not allowed to be mandated under Gov. Greg Abbott's order.
Dr. Spinner said the delta variant is impacting kids more than past variants.
"We're seeing in Houston, about one in every 10 kids that are COVID positive are being admitted to the hospital,” shared Dr. Spinner. "That's a pretty significant number. And about a third of those admitted are being sent to the ICU requiring oxygen, or an even higher level of care. So it's not a truly benign illness for children, as what was previously expressed."
Dr. Spinner said he does not want to scare parents but also does not want them to have the guilt of their child getting infected with COVID-19.
He shared that most kids hospitalized had some kind of underlying health issue, but wants to remind parents those underlying issues can be things like being overweight or having asthma.
You can watch the full interview with Dr. Stan Spinner here:
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